43-4282
On 26 January 1944, a B-25H, # 43-4282, assigned to the 14th Air Force, 1st Bomb Group, 2nd Bomb Squadron, Li Chin Chen field, China, departed the base at Wuchow, China, on an alert mission to Kweilin, China. It was last sighted at about 1400 hours. The crew was comprised of:
Pilot Capt. Derward Blake Harper 0-428669
Observer Capt. Charles Lincoln Waugh 0-908629
Gunner MSgt Albert Edward Danovitz 13054811 Engineer - Crew Chief
Gunner TSgt Sanford W. Carhart Jr. 32171604 Radio Operator
Gunner TSgt Frank Joseph Leimer 18043134 Armorer
The base operations officer last saw the aircraft at Wuchow, China. Its last known location was the mountain of Hwang-Chia-Wen, 12th Pao Liang-Yu village, Hunan province, 150 kilometers South of Hongyang China.
HARPER, DERWARD BLAKE, Captain, # 0-428669, USAAF
Deward B. Harper was born 28 February 1917 in Wake County, North Carolina, to Dr. James Madison Harper (1876-1942) and Susie Norment (McGee) Harper (1889-1973). He married Margaret Frances Hamilton (Jacobs nee Harper) (1917-1994) in 1942 in Dallas, Texas. Siblings included James Madison Harper Jr. (1911-1994), John Franklin Harper (1912-1985), Alan Albert Harper (1918-1976), Howard Holdford Harper (1920-1995), Robert Norment Harper (1922-1992), and another brother.
He enlisted in the USAAF as an aviation cadet with three years of college, on15 March 1941 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On 26 January 1944, a B-25H, # 43-4282, assigned to the 14th Air Force, 1st Bomb Group, 2nd Bomb Squadron, Li Chin Chen field, China, departed the base at Wuchow, China, on an alert mission to Kweilin, China. It was last sighted at about 1400 hours. The base operations officer last saw the aircraft at Wuchow, China. Its last known location was the mountain of Hwang-Chia-Wen, 12th Pao Liang-Yu village, Hunan province, 150 kilometers South of Hongyang China.
The family placed a marker for him in the Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina.
